The phenomenal success of the Serial podcast — a serialized murder mystery produced by the creators of This American Life — became somewhat of a cultural phenomenon in 2014, and its influence continues to be felt in television, movies and even video games. It’s already inspired a number of similarly themed TV series, starting with HBO’s “The Jinx” and “Making a Murderer” on Netflix, with more on the way, including a possible adaptation of the podcast for film and/or TV.
Is impact on gaming came can be seen in last year’s acclaimed “interactive movie” Her Story, made by Silent Hill: Shattered Memories creator Sam Barlow, which gave players the chance to solve the case of a missing person, rather than watch or listen to the story unfold before them.
Cerebral thrillers aren’t terribly common in video games, but their drip-feed style of storytelling seems to fit in nicely when the viewer/listener is given the chance to interact with the narrative. Taking the immersion factor a step further is WEVR’s new virtual reality game Gone, produced by The Walking Dead creator Skybound.
This serialized virtual reality thriller follows “Meredith Clover, a mother consumed with the search for her missing daughter. Nine-year-old Emilia Clover vanished impossibly, in broad daylight, before a dozen baffled useless witnesses. Navigating a complicated trail of increasingly surreal clues and her own daughter’s closely guarded secrets, Meredith discovers that her Emilia is much more than simply gone.”
Gone comes from JT Petty, who you may recognize for his work on Splinter Cell, The Burrowers and Outlast. It’s available now exclusively for Samsung Gear VR, via their Milk VR platform.
